Any Londoners / natural history museum buffs about ?

[dizzycatdance2]

Going to London tomorrow.

Arrive Euston at noon.

Plan
Tube to Covent garden to see street performers for a bit.

Tube to natural history museum.

Stay till it closes at 5:50

Tube to shad thames for a wander round ( unless anyone can suggest something better) then walk across tower bridge, we have tickets for the tower ww2 exhibition at 8:20.

Then back to Euston for 9;45 train.

Do you think we'll have time to do Covent garden before nat hist ?

If we book for "life in the dark" exhibit at the nat hist , what might be a good time ?
Last one at 5pm or
In the middle 3;15 or some other time ??

Advice very welcome !

I think you’ll struggle to spend so long at the NHM. Is there anything specific you are looking to do in Shad Thames? I didn’t know there was much to do there.

It is the Lord Mayors show tomorrow. More of a spectacle than Covent Garden.

I remember spending all day at the nhm and still not seeing it all. Has it changed a lot in the last few years ?/

Any good "spots" for the lord mayors show ??

Thought of shad Thames as a "filler" between nhm and tower tickets.

Have 4 boys with me, 13 and 15

The NHM on a Saturday will be HEAVING. So you might not want to spend all that time there because it will be tiring pushing through the crowds. If I were you, I would do the Life in the Dark exhibit as soon as you get there, if that's what you really want to see, then see what else you can, then take a walk around Hyde Park (NHM isn't far from the entrance where the Serpentine, Princess Diana Memorial are) and catch the Jubilee Line from Green Park down to Waterloo and walk along the Embankment to Tower Bridge.

Is a walk along the embankment good for early eve ?

Also, if NHM is heaving then you could be queuing for up to an hour to get in. I think you can easily spend a couple of hours at NHM but when we went in the summer I was surprised it wasn't as vast as I remembered from childhood.

Yes, Embankment is lovely - lots of lights, the London Eye, street entertainers etc. Great views of the city from there too.

And yes, queue to get into NHM at weekends are about an hour long.

There's information here lordmayorsshow.london/ about the Lord Mayors show. There's not going to be fireworks this year but they've set up areas with food,rides and entertainment - could be interesting!

Best to get to NHM as early as you can for the dinosaurs. You can spend as little or as long as you want there really. There's a bit in the basement where you can weigh fossils and so on that my girls will spend hours in, and other bits we dash through. We normally pop in and do our favourite bits of the NHM and science museum next door and then over to the V and A cafe which is nicer. The wonderlab at the science museum is not free but isn't too expensive and my kids love it

Thanks for all the advice, looking at some of the family friendly lord mayors stuff near st Paul's , might just head there and if we have time to to nhm.

Just struggling with the 5:30 to 7:30 bit when lots of things are shut .

The after dark exhibition is fantastic well well worth booking. If you pre book you get to queue jump at the door as well.
Don’t forget you’ve got the science museum and the Victoria and Albert near by.
We’ve managed to while away a few hours at china town and soho before (hipchips, the nata shop and Herman ze-german are big favourites with my kids)

Take the northern line from euston to leicester square and walk to covent carden. It’s a lot easier than the tube to covent garden on a saturday morning. I would however suggest borough market as that’s just better than covent garden on the weekend you can walk from there to pretty much anywhere (including embankment).

NHM is right next to the science and V&A museums so you can always pop into them too if NHM is too much. Top floor of science museum is interesting if anyone is into aviation and its always quiet even on a Saturday.

Just struggling with the 5:30 to 7:30 bit when lots of things are shut

This is London on a Saturday - loads of places will be open to at least eight. You could always go and look at the Xmas lights in Oxford St, they're on now.

Shad Thames would be an odd place to go. Embankment is a lovely place to wander and you can grab food too - perfect for the time before your Tower Bridge tour.

Queuing for the NHM is always long at weekends, and out in the open so check out the weather and be prepared.

The Christmas market on the south bank (the waterloo end) is open from tonight. Might be a good place to look around in the early evening :- southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/132121-winter-market-2018

I’d drop Shad Thames to be honest
It is miles from the nhm
Agree life in the dark last viewing would be best as the museum may be less busy then.
Covent Garden to south ken is fast on the Piccadilly line.
I would suggest you queue via the exibition road entrance to the nhm

South bank from 530pm will be beautiful for a walk to the Tate modern along the river

Wow so many good ideas ! Thank you ,

The last hour of the NHM is a good time to see the dinosaurs - we've been when the queue is around the block at 2pm, but almost non existent a couple of hours later.

And the walk along the South Bank is always lovely

but Shad Thames isn't miles from the Tower. And it's very lovely down there. Why not go to the All Bar One for some fries before you hit the Tower?

I'm not particularly a fan of walking along the south bank, it just feels like a trek and is always really busy.